


I have loved the stars too fondly

by Goonlalagoon



Category: Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Genre: All astronomical errors are my fault because I know very little about space or space programs, DD posted a graphic for the end of Cassini, Gen, Is that a general thing or is that pop up suggestion just for YW?, and i had feelings, so I wrote other people having feelings, why am I not surprised that Cassini the saturn orbiter is already a character option?, with quotes from The Old Astronomer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 08:38:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12361830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goonlalagoon/pseuds/Goonlalagoon
Summary: No matter how many years of wizardry she had under her belt, Nita thought she would never get used to popping into existence in the orbit of a different planet.Spot whirred, a readout of their cocooning shields and atmospheric wizardries running over his screen as Dairine did a final paranoid check. Bobo whispered the same stats in the back of Nita’s mind as she took a moment to take in the view. Far, far below her feet there was a distant echo, a trembling beneath her breastbone like the last rings of a tuning fork in a tone she hadn't quite heard before. She smiled. Saturn was saying hello.(I had feelings about Cassini, and I figured Nita and co probably would too)





	I have loved the stars too fondly

No matter how many years of wizardry she had under her belt, Nita thought she would never get used to popping into existence in the orbit of a different planet.

Spot whirred, a readout of their cocooning shields and atmospheric wizardries running over his screen as Dairine did a final paranoid check. Bobo whispered the same stats in the back of Nita’s mind as she took a moment to take in the view. Far, far below her feet there was a distant echo, a trembling beneath her breastbone like the last rings of a tuning fork in a tone she hadn't quite heard before. She smiled. Saturn was saying hello.

Next to her Kit scanned the horizon, anxiously, breathing a sigh of relief as Cassini drifted into view from the direction they’d expected. While there were ways of dealing with it, none of them wanted to get picked up in the satellite’s final broadcasts.

“I can’t believe they were going to just let it plunge to its doom.”  
“Pretty sure none of the scientists working on this project are wizards, Dair.“ Nita said mildly, amused. Her sister shot her a glare that clearly said _and?_ , but otherwise let it pass.

 _"Hey, little buddy”_ , calls out Kit in the Speech, and there was a sense of something looking at them without, thankfully, turning. The inaudible whir of machinery conspired to sound surprised. It had been a long time since these wires and panels were in some way touched by living will or matter. _“Hey, we need to talk, quickly”_  
_Transmit. Transmit._  
_“Yeah, you can keep transmitting, don’t worry. But there’s something going to happen to you soon that we think we can stop.”_

There was probably no kind way to tell anyone or anything that they were being sent to their own destruction, but they tried, quick, efficient words in the Speech, Cassini sending its transmissions steadily even if there was an increasing sense of being listened to. For a machine with no known contact with wizards there was a surprisingly coherent level of awareness, but then a lot of love and care had gone into its creation, and a lot of people had marvelled at every image it sent back.

 _“…but we think we can get you out, take you home.”_ They hadn’t quite decided what would be the next step - finding a planet somewhere that could do with another space probe, after fiddling with the connections so NASA didn’t suddenly find they were strong images from some even more distant system.

There was a considering pause.

 _Leave?_ Nita blinked at the level of bemusement in the silent voice. _Leave?_ The idea seemed to be sinking in, but instead of the agreement they had been seeking there was a kind of despair. Dairine smoothed the whole Apple logo on Spot’s back.  
_“Yeah, buddy, leave - it’s leave or plunge into the surface of Saturn.”_  
_Transmit!_  
_“We can take you somewhere you can still transmit, don’t worry.”_  
_Transmit!_

“I don’t think it means it doesn’t want to stop transmitting, exactly…” Kit tilted his head, considering. “I think maybe it’s saying it doesn’t want to leave Saturn. This is its purpose.” Dair gritted her teeth and looked rather like she wanted to stamp her foot in frustration. But from Cassini there was a sense of stubborn intent, and Nita sighed.  
“Dair, we have to give it a choice. That’s why we didn’t just whisk it away at the last moment.” She looked at the drifting machine. _“You’d rather go down? It’ll be the end of you”_  
_Transmit?_

 _“Oh…uh, that isn’t an option. See they can’t keep you running and they can’t let you orbit in case you go into one of the moons…“_  
_"And we already figured out we couldn’t keep you in a safe orbit either.”_ Finished Dairine, leaning forwards. _“It’s too complex and we can’t guarantee we’d have the time to monitor you the whole time.”_  
_Why?_ Somewhere under the mechanics there was a sense of something like hurt. The probe had been fired out into space to beam image after image of Saturn home, and now they were explaining that it was at the end of its expected lifespan. _Why is orbit not possible?_  
_“They think there could be life on one of the moons, one day in the future. If you wound up crashing into one of them while in orbit it could be devastating - either destroy or disrupt any life developing”_

Silence echoed for a while, then -  
_I stay. Transmit. I stay with Saturn._ Dairine clutched at Spot, but didn’t argue any further. They had given Cassini a choice, and they couldn’t argue just because it made _them_ feel sad. Kit tapped his lip thoughtfully, then nudged Dairine.  
“Hey, is there any way we can help it out? Keep it online a bit longer, or something. Y’know. Inexplicable extra pictures sent home. A…thank you, I guess, for all the work its done? Transmiting sees to be such a big deal to it.”  
“That’s what it was created for.” Nita nodded absently, already putting the question to Bobo and flicking through her manual.

The Speech rippled out from them, breathless and curving the world around it. For a moment, Nita felt the bright, thrumming joy at the core of the probe. Cassini had been created to study the gas giant below them, and this was where it wanted to stay, for however long was left. In some ways, the idea of meeting its end in the surface it had monitored felt right, while the notion of ceasing to carry out its directive felt jarring and nauseating. Then the wizardry took hold and released them, and Nita was gasping for breath, shaken by the sudden lack of certainty.

Kit leaned on her shoulder as though dizzy, and Dairine breathed a trembling sigh.  
“Wow. I mean…” Kit chuckled weakly.  
“Yeah.” Cassini drifted away, still pulsing out with that fierce joy at carrying outs its function. In the back of her mind Nita could feel the strain of the wizardry still at work, holding under the parameters they’d set to boost Cassini’s functions for as long as could be reasonably maintained. It wasn’t long, but it was something.

Nita clutched at Kit and Dairine’s hands, breath caught in her throat, as the spacecraft plunged into swirling clouds and faded from sight.

(Nita nodded at the golden figure wreathed in swirling cloth striding over the clouds as though they were solid ground, and fell into step. They walked in companionable silence for a time, the world aound them somehow more real than that they saw when awake - until Saturn paused to look up at something. Nita followed their gaze to a gleaming space probe, sailing gently through the sky, still singing it’s joy out to the stars)


End file.
